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GSS 202 Fall 2021

Course Calendar

Readings are due – meaning they should be completed – on the dates indicated. Readings marked with “(GD)” are available in our class Google drive folder. All other readings are either linked to here or they are novels or films (see “Required Course Materials”).

The most accurate and up-to-date version of this calendar can be found on our course site. Use the online calendar to check on reading assignments, rather than this print version, since the print version of this syllabus will not be updated throughout the semester.

I reserve the right to change the course calendar as needed; adequate advance notice will always be given of any changes.

Unit 1: Introductions

Week 1

Tuesday, August 24:

  • Introduction to course: What is LGTBQ Studies?

Thursday, August 26

  • Siobhan Somerville, “Queer,” from Keywords for American Cultural Studies, Second Edition (2014) (GD)
  • Donald E. Hall and Annamarie Jagose, “Introduction,” from The Routledge Queer Studies Reader (2012), pgs xiv-xvii (GD)

Week 2

Tuesday, August 31

  • Michelle O’Brien, “Trans Oral History: Feminist Legacy,” from the Transgender Oral History Project, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gug9VQV7pwE (7:28)
  • Sharon Marcus, “Queer Theory for Everyone: A Review Essay,” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, vol 31, 1 (2005): 191-218; read pgs 191-200 (GD)
  • Susan Stryker, “Transgender Studies: Queer Theory’s Evil Twin,” GLQ 10, no. 2 (2004): 212-215 (GD)

Thursday, September 2

  • Hanne Blank, Ch 1 “The Love That Could Not Speak Its Name,” from Straight: The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality (2012) (GD)

Friday, Sept 3

  • Grade contract due
  • Response 1 due

Week 3

Tuesday, September 7

  • Siobhan Somerville, “Scientific Racism and the Emergence of the Homosexual Body,” The Journal of the History of Sexuality 5, no. 2 (1994): 243-266 (GD)

Thursday, September 9

  • Cathy J. Cohen, “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics?”, GLQ vol 3 (1997): 437-465 (GD)

Friday, Sept 10

  • Response 2 due

Unit 2: Queer Histories, Queer Presents

Week 4

Tuesday, September 14

  • José Esteban Muñoz, Introduction “Performing Disidentifications,” from Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics (1999), pgs 1-13, 21-34 (GD)

Thursday, September 16

  • Marlon Riggs, dir., Tongues Untied (1989), https://fod-infobase-com.access.library.miami.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=57872 (53:52)
    • This film is available to stream for free for UM students through our library (via Films on Demand). Clicking the link above will take you to a page that requires you to sign in with your UM CaneID and password. After you enter those, you will be able to stream the film.
    • If the link isn’t working for you, follow these steps to watch the film:
      • Head to the UM Library homepage, and scroll down to the “Databases A-Z” section.
      • Select F, and you’ll be taken to a screen listing all of the databases that start with F.
      • Scroll down to “Films On Demand: Master Academic Package,” and click on that. If you are not on campus, you may be prompted at this point to enter your CaneID and password.
      • Once you’ve logged into the service, enter “Tongues Untied” into the search bar at the top and hit enter/return/select search.
      • When the results screen populates, scroll down to Tongues Untied (for me it’s the fifth result listed) and click on it. You should now be able to watch the film.

Friday, September 17

  • Response 3 due

Week 5

Tuesday, September 21

  • Cheryl Dunye, dir., The Watermelon Woman (1996), https://miami.kanopy.com/video/watermelon-woman (1 hour, 24 minutes)
    • This film is available to stream for free for UM students through our library (via Kanopy). Clicking the link above will take you to a page that requires you to sign in with your UM CaneID and password. After you enter those, you will be able to stream the film.
    • If the link isn’t working for you, follow these steps to watch the film:
      • Head to the UM Library homepage, and scroll down to the “Databases A-Z” section.
      • Select K, and you’ll be taken to a screen listing all of the databases that start with K.
      • Select “Kanopy”. If you are not on campus, you may be prompted at this point to enter your CaneID and password and/or create an individual Kanopy account using your UM credentials.
      • Once you’ve logged into the service, enter “The Watermelon Woman” into the search bar at the top. Once you start typing, the film should come up automatically (it’s got a bright pink image). Select the film.
      • You should now be taken to a screen where you are able to watch the film.
    • The Watermelon Woman is also available to stream via Amazon Prime and Showtime, if you subscribe to those services and would rather watch it that way.

Thursday, September 23

  • Jordy Rosenberg, Confessions of the Fox (2018), Editor’s Foreword – Part I, Ch. 6 (through pg 46). Always read the footnotes!

Friday, September 24

  • Response 4 due

Week 6

Tuesday, September 28

  • Jordy Rosenberg, Confessions of the Fox (2018), Part I, Ch 7 – Part II, Ch 7 (pgs 47-169)

Thursday, September 30

  • Jordy Rosenberg, Confessions of the Fox (2018), Part II, Ch 8 – Ch 14 (pgs 170-227)

Friday, October 1

  • Response 5 due

Week 7

Tuesday, October 5

  • Jordy Rosenberg, Confessions of the Fox (2018), Part III, Ch 1 – Ch 13 (pgs 231-316)

Thursday, October 7

  • Jordy Rosenberg, Confessions of the Fox (2018), wrap-up
  • Discussion of keyword analysis
    • You should know which keyword and which texts you are planning to write about by class on this day.

Sunday, October 10

  • First Contract Reassessment due
  • Keyword Analysis due

Unit 3: The Personal and the Political

Week 8

Tuesday, October 12

  • Audre Lorde, “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power” (1978)
  • Introduction to Giovanni’s Room: mini-lecture by Professor Thomas

Thursday, October 14: Fall break – NO CLASS

Week 9

Tuesday, October 19

  • James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room (1956), Part I - Part II, Ch 2 (pgs 3-102)

Thursday, October 21

  • James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room (1956), Part II, Ch 3-5 (pgs 103-169)

Friday, October 22

  • Response 6 due

Week 10

Tuesday, October 26

Thursday, October 28

  • Audre Lorde, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982), Ch 23 (pgs 176-183) (GD)
  • Gloria Anzaldúa, Ch 2 “Movimientos de rebeldia y las culturas que traicionan,” from Borderlands/La Frontera (1987) (GD)
  • Maggie Nelson, The Argonauts (2015), pgs 7-21, 58-64 (GD)

Friday, October 29

  • Response 7 due

Week 11

Tuesday, November 2

  • Judith Butler, Gender Trouble (1990), pgs 174-180 (GD)
  • C. Riley Snorton, “‘A New Hope’: The Psychic Life of Passing,” Hypatia 24, no. 3 (2009): 77-92 (GD)

Thursday, November 4

  • Butler and Snorton, con’t
  • Keyword analysis workshop: You should come to class knowing which keyword and which texts you want to write about. Bring a laptop or a tablet and at least one of the texts you are planning to write about.

Sunday, November 7

  • Second Contract Reassessment due
  • Keyword Analysis due

Unit 4: Archive of a Pandemic: AIDS activism and resistance

Week 12

Tuesday, November 9

Thursday, November 11

  • Sarah Schulman, “Introduction: How Change Is Made,” from Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993 (2021) (GD)
    • If you are interested in looking at an ACT UP New York timeline that details the group’s activities and important moments in the history of LGBTQ and AIDS activism in the US, see the file titled “Schulman – ACT UP Timeline” in our course readings folder. It provides a chronological backdrop to the historical overview Schulman gives in the introduction to her book. (GD)

Friday, November 12

  • Response 8 free pass: Response 8 is canceled, but it will count for everyone as if you have turned it in.

Week 13

Tuesday, November 16

  • Jim Hubbard, dir., United in Anger: A History of ACT UP (2012), https://miami.kanopy.com/product/united-anger-history-act-0 (1 hour, 33 minutes)
    • This film is available to stream for free for UM students through our library (via Kanopy). Clicking the link above will take you to a page that requires you to sign in with your UM CaneID and password. After you enter those, you will be able to stream the film.
    • If the link isn’t working for you, follow these steps to watch the film:
      • Head to the UM Library homepage, and scroll down to the “Databases A-Z” section.
      • Select K, and you’ll be taken to a screen listing all of the databases that start with K.
      • Select “Kanopy”. If you are not on campus, you may be prompted at this point to enter your CaneID and password and/or create an individual Kanopy account using your UM credentials.
      • Once you’ve logged into the service, enter “United In Anger” into the search bar at the top. Once you start typing, the film should come up automatically. Select the film.
      • You should now be taken to a screen where you are able to watch the film.
    • You can also access the film via our course Blackboard page:
      • From our Blackboard page, click on “uReserves” in the left-hand menu.
      • Then select “Items on Course Reserves.”
      • You will then be taken to a screen where you will need to select the title of the film (“United In Anger”).
      • After you click on the title, a dialogue box will pop up. Click on the “View online” link under “Links & Availability.”
      • You will then be taken to a screen where you can watch the film (if you are not on campus, you may need to sign in to Kanopy before you can watch the film).
  • ACT UP Oral History Project: http://www.actuporalhistory.org/interviews/. Please select one interview transcript to read/skim. Here’s how to access the interview transcripts:
    • You can use the link above (http://www.actuporalhistory.org/interviews/) to browse through the interviews and select one to skim. Note its number (e.g., “Interview #002).
    • Once you’ve found one you would like to skim, go to this page: https://actuporalhistory.org/numerical-interviews. At the top of the page, you will see links that page you to groups of interviews, organized by number. Click on the link that includes the number of the interview you want to skim.
    • You will then be taken to a page where you can select the interview. Clicking on it will take you to a page where you can watch a full, unedited version of the interview, watch an excerpt, or read the transcript. Select “Transcript” to skim the transcript.

Thursday, November 18

Friday, November 19

  • Response 9 due (this response is required)

Week 14

Tuesday, November 23: Thanksgiving break – NO CLASS

Thursday, November 25: Thanksgiving break – NO CLASS

Week 15

Tuesday, November 30

  • Final project workshop, wrap-up

Thursday, December 2

  • Final project workshop, wrap-up
  • Course evaluations

Week 16

Tuesday, December 7: NO CLASS

  • Open office hours from 1-3 pm outside the Ashe building

Fri, Dec 10

  • Final Project due